Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022

From the Census Bureau. Every year about this time they issue a report on poverty and incomes for the previous year (which is 2022). Excerpts from the press release:

"real median household income in 2022 fell in comparison to 2021. The official poverty rate of 11.5% was not statistically different between 2021 and 2022."

"Real median household income fell by 2.3% from $76,330 in 2021 to $74,580 in 2022. Income estimates are expressed in real or 2022 dollars to reflect changes in the cost of living." (real means adjusted for inflation and the CPI was up 6.5% in 2022)

"The real median earnings of all workers (including part-time and full-time workers) decreased 2.2% between 2021 and 2022, while median earnings of those who worked full-time, year-round decreased 1.3%."

"The official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5%, with 37.9 million people in poverty. Neither the rate nor the number in poverty was significantly different from 2021."

"These findings come from three Census Bureau reports: Income in the United States: 2022, Poverty in the United States: 2022, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022."

"Income

• Real median household income was $74,580 in 2022, a decrease of 2.3% from the 2021 estimate of $76,330.
• Householders under the age of 65 experienced a decline in median household income of 1.4% from 2021, while householders age 65 and over did not experience a significant change in median income between 2021 and 2022. The difference between the percent changes in median household income for those two age groups was not statistically significant.
  
• The Gini index is a statistical mea­sure of income inequality ranging from 0.0 to 1.0. It measures the amount that any two incomes dif­fer, on average, relative to mean income. It is an indicator of how far apart or “spread out” incomes are from one another. A value of 0.0 represents perfect equality, and a value of 1.0 indi­cates total inequality. Based on the money income Gini index, income inequality decreased by 1.2% between 2021 and 2022 (from 0.494 to 0.488); this is the first time the Gini index has shown an annual decrease since 2007. 
  

Race and Hispanic Origin

Race data refer to people reporting a single race only. Hispanic people can be of any race.

• Real median household incomes in White and non-Hispanic White households experienced a decrease between 2021 and 2022 (3.5% and 3.6%, respectively). The real median incomes for Black, Asian and Hispanic households were not statistically different from 2021. Asian households had the highest median income ($108,700) in 2022, followed by non-Hispanic White ($81,060) households and Hispanic ($62,800) households. Black households had the lowest median income ($52,860).
• Percent changes in median household income from 2021 to 2022 were not statistically different for the following groups: White householders and non- Hispanic White householders; Black householders and Hispanic householders; and Asian householders and all other race groups."

"As defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Statistical Poverty Directive 14 and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2022 was $29,678."

See Historical Income Tables: Families from the Census Bureau. They also have a link for Gini coefficients for family income going back to 1947. See also Historical Income Tables: Households. See also Historical Poverty Tables: People and Families - 1959 to 2021. These Census Bureau links will take you to tables on poverty, incomes and inequality (the Gini coefficient measures inequality).

Now some charts from the report.

 

"In 2022, households in the lowest quintile had incomes of $30,000 or less. Households in the second quintile had incomes from $30,001 to $58,020; those in the third quintile had incomes from $58,021 to $94,000; and those in the fourth quintile had incomes from $94,001 to $153,000. Households in the highest quintile had incomes of $153,001 or more. The top 5 percent of households in the income distribution had incomes of $295,001 or more."

Here is the mean income household income by quintile starting with the lowest

 

16,120 

43,850 

74,730 

119,900 

277,300

 

499,900 (top 5%).